RPGM Maids & Masters [v0.15] [The Mithril Hourglass]
[Game breaking bug?]
So after visiting viridius I checked on emily and she said she got new stocks but after the scene ends I can't move at all. I can still open menu but can't move.
So after visiting viridius I checked on emily and she said she got new stocks but after the scene ends I can't move at all. I can still open menu but can't move.
Game is a work of love, full of details. Pity that many details never got noticed.
It would be much better to let players know what the trophies are. Trying to figure out how to get the trophies is hard enough. No need to hide the trophies from players. After all no effort will be made without knowing the existence of the trophies.
Please make a list of all the trophies. Sad thing that the trophy room is huge but empty.
It would be much better to let players know what the trophies are. Trying to figure out how to get the trophies is hard enough. No need to hide the trophies from players. After all no effort will be made without knowing the existence of the trophies.
Please make a list of all the trophies. Sad thing that the trophy room is huge but empty.
Sorry for leaving ya'll hanging, I was out of the house for nearly the past two weeks. Now that I'm back...
Were you able to try again and get past this, or does it keep happening if you try to get through the scene again? Does anything else happen, like being unable to talk to Emily or an error with the music? Does the character turn but stay in place, or are you unable to turn and opening the menu is literally the only thing that responds?
Two things about letting the player know where trophies are. One, they're extra tidbits, like finding optional summon materia in FF7 or recruiting Ashton in Star Ocean: Second Story. They're not an integral part of the game, but if you find them you get a little more out of it. Two, I am actually working on an in-game hint system. My focus has been on the main story, and working on other projects along with real life things makes it hard to justify putting a lot of time into something that not everyone will use. v0.6 is already taking a lot longer than I wanted it to for me to get done, but the feature will make it in eventually.
And if I made an unofficial renpy version, wouldn't that just make it an official renpy version? In any case, I can't code in Python (yet), so unfortunately remaking this in renpy is unlikely.
Something similar happened around there before, but it should've been fixed. I can't see anything that would've caused the issue you're describing, and to my knowledge, that sort of thing typically only happens if there's some sort of collision detection that went sideways. I'm not sure how this managed to happen to you, but I'd like to fix it if I can.
Were you able to try again and get past this, or does it keep happening if you try to get through the scene again? Does anything else happen, like being unable to talk to Emily or an error with the music? Does the character turn but stay in place, or are you unable to turn and opening the menu is literally the only thing that responds?
I really do love what I do, and it's nice to see that recognized. Thanks for that.
Two things about letting the player know where trophies are. One, they're extra tidbits, like finding optional summon materia in FF7 or recruiting Ashton in Star Ocean: Second Story. They're not an integral part of the game, but if you find them you get a little more out of it. Two, I am actually working on an in-game hint system. My focus has been on the main story, and working on other projects along with real life things makes it hard to justify putting a lot of time into something that not everyone will use. v0.6 is already taking a lot longer than I wanted it to for me to get done, but the feature will make it in eventually.
VX Ace unfortunately doesn't inherently support Android ports. If you're able to extract the game on a PC and transfer it to your android device, I think JoiPlay will work, but I haven't tested that at all so I can't guarantee anything there.Android and unofficial renpy version dev plssss
And if I made an unofficial renpy version, wouldn't that just make it an official renpy version? In any case, I can't code in Python (yet), so unfortunately remaking this in renpy is unlikely.
There is an easy work around about the hint system. The maids should actively speak out if they have any thing to say when Master is talking to NPCs or interacting to objects. Now they only say things like 'Please don't step on flowers master'. Hey, they are maids, not mothers. The ways the maids behave are a little passive in the current game. They are now only active in the main story line. They only comment after a trophy is got, never mention anything beforehand which is why players say hints are needed. Maids should be contributing valuable information to Master, even if that info regarding their own personal needs(e.g. dildo). A proper solution to this is that maids say things like "I hate the rats in this mansion." In this way the trophies become the maids' personal requests. Once a trophy is got a maid's need is fulfilled and she rewards Master with something, preferably lewd things(e.g.the Ratslayer Trophy reward be a mouse headband when dressed by certain Maid you can spank her). Just equipment is OK, just a trophy is all right as it is now.
This should not take too much work. Just add a few lines about each trophy and that is good enough. (But if you have time PLEASE add more lewd things as trophy rewards.)
This should not take too much work. Just add a few lines about each trophy and that is good enough. (But if you have time PLEASE add more lewd things as trophy rewards.)
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It keeps happening to me. I uploaded the save files just to be clear. Save06 is right before the event and save07 is right after the event. Most likely it's because I cheated maybe lol
I completely understand what you're saying, but the trophies aren't really related to the Maids at all, so it's kinda hard to justify having them mention something themselves, especially if they have no knowledge of the trophy. The ones that are directly related to the Maids (like the dildo or the potion) are things that they want to keep a secret rather than a need they want their Master to resolve for them. They're otherwise passive because they have minimal investment in the trophy itself.
The trophies are meant to work more like achievements than in-game unlockables, but I didn't want the "achievements" to be arbitrary nonsense like most games have, like celebrating completing the mandatory tutorial. Though most trophies do unlock at least one extra scene. Not all of them are immediately obvious (like the scenes the key unlocks), and some aren't implemented because they're related to characters that aren't in the game yet (like Ratslayer), but it's there, and there is more on the way.
Yeah, some of the scripting is very specifically put together, so cheating can break the game pretty easily. I'm not sure if that's what caused this, though. It seems to be a fringe case that I think can only happen if you go long enough without visiting Emily, but basically the game is waiting for movement to complete and the movement can't complete. In any case, it's fixed for the next version, and fixed for your attached save. I left you just on the other side of the interaction.
Well, whether things are related or not depends on the author. It is fiction, so coincidents happen regardless of probability. It's not that hard to think of plots to have things related somehow. If you think that involves too much work, simply fill the trophy room with empty slots with the names of trophies only. Players will have to figure out how to get them anyway. Letting players know the names of trophies does not really count as spoiler. Almost every Steam game does this. If you think these trophies are meant to be hidden contents like hidden treasures that should only be discovered by pure luck, it is totally fine. However it will surely leave much of your work unrecognized. Not every player has the patience to interact with every object in the game especially when the map is huge in the current version. That is exactly where the complaints of map size are coming from.
Designing a game is hard work, not only physically or mentally, but philosophically as well. Sometimes when one issue is obviously revealed, the real solution might be somewhere else. When lots of players complain about map size, it does not mean that the maps are really too large for them. The players are actually saying they are lost. They need some motivation like trophies or other arbitrary nonsense to give them a meaning and keep them going. If these needs are not met they would likely drop the game and dig fun elsewhere. Many developers failed to notice this, and tried to fill their games with more and more grind. Then players got more impatient and started trying to fix the pointless grindness with cheating or even reverse engineering. This is how endless wars between devs and players started.
If you don't have time to spare, simply tell players the names of 'Trophies' or any other form of 'side missions' just like you reveal the tags. Please NEVER bring any grindy stuff into your own work of love. Grindy stuff will only ruin the experience. Players will write walkthrough to uncover the hidden gems, or ignore them anyway.
You're welcome!
Again, I completely understand what you're saying. I'm not trying to deliberately hide anything, make the game excessively grindy, or arbitrarily increase difficulty by withholding information. I added trophies because I wanted to. They're an optional bit of content that's there for me to have fun making as much as they're there for people to have fun finding. If the current incarnation feels obfuscated and frustrating, I can see where that might be coming from. If someone else wants to write a walkthrough or ignore the content, that's okay with me. I don't approve of cheating, but some people are going to do it regardless, so it's not something I'm particularly concerned with. My concern lies in realizing the vision I have, ideally in a way that enough people will enjoy my work enough that I'll get the support I need to do the same with the dozens of other ideas I have.
I don't mean to repeat myself or sound dismissive, but already I have a hint system in mind. Real life obligations and the need for income have reduced the amount of time I have to work on this project, creating delays. It's higher on my priority list to get the next segment of the main game completed than it is to create an optional sub-system for optional content that not everyone will care about. That's why that hint system isn't already implemented. It's not because I think it's fine as is, or because I don't care, it's a matter of being only one person and having limited time to work.
Truth is, the game is already excessively grindy. It's a fact and has nothing to do with your intention. Poison effect is many times stronger than 'normal' RPGs. Cure poison with constant antidote is a painful chore. No way to restore MP other than sleeping in certain locations. No quick way to teleport back to town make it even worse. Battle is turn based which means dodging is not an option. Bosses are impossible without certain skills which can only be unlocked by certain level. No skill tree forces players to grind a lot to level up in order to aquire new skill. Game is way more grindy compared to most eroges. Even more grindy than some survival games in the awards/consumption ratio.
I don't find this game hard. It's grindy. There's huge difference between difficulty and repetitiveness. And sad thing is this difference is not recognized by some of the most successful devs. Their difficulty settings are actually grindy settings. And they consider 'play time' as 'game length' and tend to believe the longer the better. Players can tolerate chores does not justify the value of them. This is the reason why most sequels are worse. Repeating the same story with more grind does not make anything better.
Smart bosses with unpredictable actions are hard. Bullet spondge bosses are grindy. Buffs and debuffs with unique effects are hard; those directly increase or decrease defence or damage are grindy. Whether or not a player knows these differences is not important. No one can cheat adrenaline or dopamine.
Old school RPG existed due to hardware restrictions, and they decay nowadays because comprimises are not fun after all.In a world where people have more and more options, time-consuming grindness or hidden contents is not a good way to get support. This is one of the reasons why Renpy engine is more popular than RPGM.
I am not saying you delibrately did these things but it's the limits of RPGM engine. Having to interact with certian objects to trigger certain contents plus the movement and turnbased combat are flaws by its nature. Since you are not switching to other engine or newer versions, it would be wise to overcome these limits by smart design, so this game can be more competitive against other games with more advanced game engines.
Again I respect your choice, I just don't see this 'hide the beef in the burger' old school thing could raise support.
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I'm not sure what your goal is, here. Ignoring the bits where you're objectively wrong, like having potions and ethers (which is a way to recover without sleeping), you seem to be either contradicting yourself or comparing my game to something it will never be.
Your ultimate point seems to be something to the effect of "I want more lewds, make them easier to find." I have not been shy about the fact that this is supposed to be a story first, a game second, and porn third. I'm glad you care enough about my project to type out as much as you have, but if porn is all you see it as, it might not be for you. If that's the case, I'm sorry the game doesn't live up to your expectations. Hopefully a future update will resolve at least some of the issues you have with it.
First, about the story. You said the trophy part is optional and "not an integral part" of the story. This is to say the story does not include the trophies, and it will no doubt significantly reduce the contents of the story, which is exactly the opposite of 'story-rich'. For most RPGs, if devs hided all the optional contents and leave only the main story 'visible' to players, do you think they would get higher reputation and more support? It's not something hard to realize, just delete the UI for optional contents, aka 'hide' them. However you still believe the 'old school way' in games 30 years ago is something it meant to be. The ways existed due to hardware restrictions, and they are comprimises and comprimises do not bring fun. Players have fun finding them? Truth is players have pain finding them, will possibly get fun in them, and when the juice does not worth the squeeze, they get disappointed and will just quit searching. In real life, the contents in a game are not how much the devs make but how much the players can and are willing to experience. This is where support is really coming from -- not the amount of devs' toil but how much players are willing to pay for the adrenaline or dopamine they get from the game.
Second, about the game. Sorry I did not make it clear, but the regular way in your game to get potions and ethers is barter not trade (with currency), and it is a fact that barter is way more grindy than trade. Without trade potions and ethers are actually loot not commodities. In this sense, this game is more of a survival grind than a RPG. Futhermore, unlike most survival games where you can build or craft equipment and supplies to reduce the pain of grind, in this game you can only find loot, which can not be traded freely . One kind of loot can only be bartered for another specific kind. Imagine replacing most RPG's trading system with barter, it will make most if not all of them many times more grindy. Like I said, no skill tree, no trading, no free teleport, no camping, no crafting, the things you believe make the game 'harder' is not making it harder, or to put it more precisely--challenging, but more grindy. This is to say the 'RPG game part' is not challenging but more like a chore. Players get neither adrenaline nor dopamine from it, so why waste the time?
The above reasons make the porn part the beef in the burger -- the part that generates adrenaline or dopamine. Game is not hard but grindy and this is where you misunderstand me. I don't want an easier game, I just don't want more grind. If you want it be harder please make puzzles trickier and enemies smarter. Giving players more inconveniences is NOT making it any harder or better.
If you want to get more support, make the story engaging and the gameplay challenging, or just make more porn.
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It's not that you weren't clear, it's that what you're saying doesn't line up with your own logic. For example, it's pretty obvious you want access to whatever content the trophies unlock, but to try to make that point you start making blanket statements about game developers. You're making assumptions about what is or isn't fun as though your subjective experience is objective fact that should be dictating my design philosophy. It's fine that you have criticism to share, but so far your criticism hasn't been especially constructive.
When you claim something is hard ask yourself if you feel adrenaline; when you claim something is fun ask yourself if you feel dopamine. Adrenaline and dopamine are purely objective and the body reactions are obvious things a five year old can tell. If you think my personal experience is subjective, ask more people how they feel. Unfortunately, devs themselves can not have objective feeling about their own games due to the simple fact that they can never have an experience without spoiler.
As far as I can tell you have been busy defending yourself and make excuses after almost every feedback. This is not how a mature developer would react. I never try to hide the fact that I want more porn, but this does not mean I cannot appreciate good stroytelling or game mechanics. I have been playing all kinds of games for more than 30 years, and I am quite aware of how story telling and game mechanics have improved over the years. As soon as hardware imporves the leading devs drop comprimises and push gameplay to a new level. The old school ways got abandoned because players voted them out by money. It has nothing to do with my personal feeling; it's what happened and happening.
If you think my criticism is unconstructive, stick to your own way and good luck.
As far as I can tell you have been busy defending yourself and make excuses after almost every feedback. This is not how a mature developer would react. I never try to hide the fact that I want more porn, but this does not mean I cannot appreciate good stroytelling or game mechanics. I have been playing all kinds of games for more than 30 years, and I am quite aware of how story telling and game mechanics have improved over the years. As soon as hardware imporves the leading devs drop comprimises and push gameplay to a new level. The old school ways got abandoned because players voted them out by money. It has nothing to do with my personal feeling; it's what happened and happening.
If you think my criticism is unconstructive, stick to your own way and good luck.
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hey i have a problem, you know the npc where you turn in snake fangs and wolf pelts, yeah i can't turn in any fangs, i have 4 fangs and yet when i try to trade in any amount she just says i don't have any
edit: nvm i figured it out
edit: nvm i figured it out
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A lot could be said about this game (like having to press Enter for every piece of Scrap Wood you collect in the Estate... at least you don't get an annoyingly frustrating message for every hole you fix), but I'll just mention the part that irritated me the most and made me lose the most time in this game.
It's that I needed something that was NOT in this game!
A game is meant to be self-sufficient. Players should not have to download the demo of all things just to figure out the blind maze. Sure, it's just a trophy, but here's the problem: this game caters to players like me who enjoy looking through every nook and cranny. Even found Melissa's underwear in her old room. So when I got trophies 2-3-4-5-6 and still no trophy 1, I wondered if it was missable... only to learn here that it's a blind maze you don't even know exists!
To be fair, you do give a "hint" in the Uncle's Estate, but the "hint" doesn't even apply anyway! I tried to overlap both layouts to figure out which paths were open in both, follow the Mother's flowers and more... only to realise (after being forced to download the demo to solve it) that I need to cross hedges on the Uncle's maze?! What even is the point of that "hint" if it's not even giving you accurate information?! It's not even on the left side of the Uncle's Estate Garden so as to nudge players into putting 2 and 2 together. The only information that's accurate is the entrypoint. That's it.
And when I finally solved that maze (after 2 hours), I only got a Maid's Ribbon. No trophy. The achievement appears to be bugged and doesn't always unlock.
So yeah, combine this with with plenty other time-wasting decisions, I'm done with this game until it's much more polished. Shame, there are things I enjoyed (especially the Maila side-story) but as things stand, I find no pleasure playing this anymore. Again, the game wants to cater to players who enjoy looking for every piece of content, but punishes it by wasting their time and fails to actually reward their persistent and inquisitive minds.
I'm aware I'm being harsh and this can be demotivating for a developer, but I'm quite certain my frustration is mirrored in many a player. The game is heavily lacking QoL improvements, these should be tackled in priority. Doesn't matter if the game has tons of content when players don't stick around to see it (and, by extension, to support you).
It's that I needed something that was NOT in this game!
A game is meant to be self-sufficient. Players should not have to download the demo of all things just to figure out the blind maze. Sure, it's just a trophy, but here's the problem: this game caters to players like me who enjoy looking through every nook and cranny. Even found Melissa's underwear in her old room. So when I got trophies 2-3-4-5-6 and still no trophy 1, I wondered if it was missable... only to learn here that it's a blind maze you don't even know exists!
To be fair, you do give a "hint" in the Uncle's Estate, but the "hint" doesn't even apply anyway! I tried to overlap both layouts to figure out which paths were open in both, follow the Mother's flowers and more... only to realise (after being forced to download the demo to solve it) that I need to cross hedges on the Uncle's maze?! What even is the point of that "hint" if it's not even giving you accurate information?! It's not even on the left side of the Uncle's Estate Garden so as to nudge players into putting 2 and 2 together. The only information that's accurate is the entrypoint. That's it.
And when I finally solved that maze (after 2 hours), I only got a Maid's Ribbon. No trophy. The achievement appears to be bugged and doesn't always unlock.
So yeah, combine this with with plenty other time-wasting decisions, I'm done with this game until it's much more polished. Shame, there are things I enjoyed (especially the Maila side-story) but as things stand, I find no pleasure playing this anymore. Again, the game wants to cater to players who enjoy looking for every piece of content, but punishes it by wasting their time and fails to actually reward their persistent and inquisitive minds.
I'm aware I'm being harsh and this can be demotivating for a developer, but I'm quite certain my frustration is mirrored in many a player. The game is heavily lacking QoL improvements, these should be tackled in priority. Doesn't matter if the game has tons of content when players don't stick around to see it (and, by extension, to support you).
I apologize if this sounds accusatory, I promise I don't say this from a place of malice - it seems to me that the issue is as much an expectation issue as an implementation issue.
Before I go any further than that, I do want to say that I completely understand your frustration. The game is meant to be self contained, but I'm new at making games and entirely self-taught. My intentions and the end result don't always line up, and there are lots of improvements to be made both with this game and with me as a developer.
With that in mind, about the maze and trophy 1. The garden maze is set up the way that it is so it mirrors the maze in the demo; not to try to send you to the demo, but so that if you played the demo and solved the maze, you can get a reward easily in the main game. The direction on finding it isn't clear because it isn't meant to be a huge or necessary reward, just something extra for people who took the time to play the demo or actively wanted to take the time to solve the maze. That's why the "hint" at the uncle's Estate is as subtle as it is; it's supposed to be evidence of how smart you are that you managed to figure it out, and you get something within the game as a bonus.
Trophy 1 is set up the same way. It's not really part of the main game (really, none of the trophies are), it's an extra reward for people who played the demo (or made the decision to put the time into finding whatever other trophy).
But I do need to clarify something: Trophy 1 isn't in the garden maze. It is hidden as an invisible thing to interact with, but it's in the trophy room inside the mansion.
So, some follow up questions (and anyone is more than welcome to answer any of these questions) - would you rather see the garden maze be easier? The hint be more obvious? The reward be better (and if so, what would be a better reward)? Have the maze and reward be removed entirely?
I don't think moving it to the left is going to make a difference, because you're the only person I've had acknowledge it as a hint on their own so far, but if that's the ideal solution (or even if it would just be a little bit more helpful), it's something I can do.
For the other annoyances, starting with fixing the floor manually - should you not get the item pickup notification when you interact with things? I get that needing to push the button an extra time can get tedious (I've played through that section close to a dozen times; I really get that), but is such a simple thing really what turned you off of the task, or was there something else about it that didn't sit right with you? I put in the option to skip it after fixing the first 10 holes, it can be skipped at any point after that, and I ask you three times if you're sure you want to do it the hard way - should that be set up differently (and if so, how)? Or is it a communication issue, and you never realized you were able to skip it?
It seems odd to me that (and this is probably going to sound accusatory again - I promise I don't mean it that way, I'm only explaining my thought process in hopes you'll correct it to improve my understanding) you would actively choose to do it that way, and your reaction to your own decision is to tell me that it's bad after ignoring the existing alternatives. It's not easy for me to figure out what to do with that information when I've already put in a way to skip the tedium.
What other time-wasting decisions do you feel were made? How did you expect those things to behave? Is there a particular way you'd prefer to see those things be? If you're more specific, I might be able to address those things and make changes.
I'm not actively trying to waste anyone's time, and I do a lot of playtesting to make sure the game feels good to play. To me, it does. I've tried talking to people outside of F95; it feels fine to them, too. I don't know what feels like a waste of time (or what makes you feel like I'm disrespecting your time) if no one tells me what that is in a way I can act on.
Same with QoL changes. I do have a long list of changes I want to make that have accumulated since the previous major release, and after this next major release is out, I'll be taking more time to focus on those. I have no problem with making that list longer based on feedback. What do you think would improve the game? What improvements do you think can be made that would fix the issues you have to the point where you would return? What feels like a punishment for doing what you think the game is asking you to do? What could change to make those "punishments" not punishing?
I've said it before, but I'll say it every time if it makes a difference - I love feedback. Even if it's harsh. Feedback gives me insight that I can't otherwise obtain on my own, it helps make my game the best it can be, and helps me improve as a developer. I can't do much with "lacking QoL improvements" though.